BATON ROUGE, La. – No. 11/15 LSU (42-17) drops a pair of instant classic games to UL-Lafayette (50-14), who advances to the Super Regionals. After falling short in game one 7-4, LSU overcame a six-run deficit and took the lead before coming up short 9-8 in the elimination game Sunday night at Tiger Park.
“I’m at a loss for words,” said Head Coach Beth Torina. “Congrats to ULL. They had a great season. They are a great team, and they will do well going on. We’ll be pulling for them because the rivalry here is made more from the constant pairing than from the teams themselves. Those are nice girls. They’re asking about my kids between innings. The rivalry is the constant pairing of these teams, and what it continues to do is instead of building softball in our state, we should have the opportunity for two teams to make the college world series from our state. It has been one of the joys of my life to coach this team. They did everything right. I have loved being their coach. I really enjoyed this season with them. I’m devastated for them. Thank you to our seniors Georgia [Clark], Ali [Kilponen] and Savannah [Stewart]. They really left it all out there and gave it all they had.”
Game One
Freshman pitcher Alea Johnson (7-1) entered the circle in the bottom of the second and let up three runs on four hits in 1.1 innings. Graduate pitcher Ali Kilponen, who started, and sophomore pitcher Raelin Chaffin tossed a combined 2.2 innings and allowed six runs on seven hits.
Graduate infielder Karli Petty went 1-for-2 from the dish with two RBIs and a homer. Junior infielder Raeleen Gutierrez had one hit and a triple, while junior infielders Danieca Coffey and Taylor Pleasants both had one hit.
UL-Lafayette’s sophomore pitcher Sam Landry (19-5) entered in relief in the third and earned the win by tossing two strikeouts and allowing one hit and no runs in 5.0 innings.
The Ragin’ Cajuns got on the board in the bottom of the first thanks to an RBI on a fielder’s choice by senior outfielder Karly Heath, but the Tigers answered quickly in the top of the second. After sophomore outfielder McKenzie Redoutey drew a one-out walk, Petty came to the dish and knocked a two-run homer over the center field wall to take the lead. In the next at-bat, Gutierrez launched one to deep center for a triple and scored two batters later on a fielder’s choice. The Tigers scored on another fielder’s choice to build a 4-1 lead through one and a half innings.
The offenses kept trading blows as UL-Lafayette hit a leadoff homer in the bottom of the second from sophomore infielder Alexa Langliers. They found the run column again in the second on an RBI single from sophomore infielder Stormy Kotzelnick to cut the lead to 4-3 through two frames.
The Cajuns used two home runs in the third and fourth inning to regain a 7-4 lead.
After three scoreless innings, the Tigers threatened in the seventh with two runners on and the tying run at the plate but could not cross another run.
Game Two
Freshman pitcher Sydney Berzon (14-8) was charged with the loss after striking out two batters and allowing nine runs on nine hits and four walks in the complete game effort.
Clark led the Tigers with a 2-for-2 performance, three RBIs, and two runs scored. Pleasants got hot at the dish, going 2-for-3 with two RBIs, and Redoutey finished the game with two RBIs. Petty pieced together a one-hit, one-RBI performance in the afternoon.
UL-Lafayette’s freshman pitcher Chloe Riassetto (2-1) earned the win while allowing no runs on three hits in 3.0 innings.
The Ragin’ Cajuns scored six runs on two hits in the first inning, highlighted by a grand slam from junior outfielder Jourdyn Campbell.
In the bottom of the second, the Tigers found the scoreboard with a solo shot from Clark, her 13th homer of the season. The Tigers returned the favor with a six-run third inning, scoring all their runs with two outs. A one-run double from Pleasants, a two-run single from Clark and a two-run double from Redoutey evened the score at 6-6. Petty added one more run with an RBI single to give LSU its first lead.
The bats stayed hot for LSU in the fourth. Briggs knocked a two-out double to left field, and Pleasants lined a one-run single to right field to increase the Tigers’ lead to 8-6.
The Ragin’ Cajuns had one more run in them and rallied back late. ULL got back on the board with a solo homer from Heath in the top of the fifth to cut the lead to one run, 8-7, and after a scoreless sixth inning, the Ragin’ Cajuns scored two runs in the top of the seventh to take a 9-8 lead over the Tigers. In the bottom of the seventh, LSU put a runner on but could not plate the tying run.
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